Witness tells of police storming shop in Jarrow siege

Kevin Clark

A witness has spoken of the drama which unfolded at a Jarrow bookmaker's office tonight.

Stephen Dixon had a bird's eye view from his flat opposite the Coral shop in the Viking Centre.

A 39-year-old man was arrested after a three-hour stand-off ended without injury.

Four people who had been held in the premises were released over the course of the siege.

"I saw three hostages come out," said Mr Dixon.

"The first came out about half past six - he was a young lad in a Coral uniform. The second came out about an hour later.

"He was dressed all in black, so it was difficult to say whether he was staff or not.

"I don't know who the third one was. He ran across the road, whereas the others had walked out slowly."

Police have confirmed a 'less lethal weapon' was discharged during the incident: "I saw the man when the police stormed the premises," said Stephen.

"It looked like they had Tasered the bloke, who was on the floor.

"By the sound of things, it all ended peacefully. Everything is quiet out there now, but there is still a policeman standing by and three cars.

"It went on longer than I expected to be honest. There did not seem to be an awful lot of negotiating going on - it was more standing around - but it has all ended safely, which is what we were hoping for."